by Lem Satterfield
(See video highlights and interviews below)
(Click here for complete results of the Columbia Invitational)
After two halves of regulation, overtime and several penalty kicks against their Frederick County rivals, the game's biggest moment for the Under-13 Diplomats of Loudoun County in Virginia came down to the smallest player on the Dips' team.
And as Ricardo Manosalvas lined up to take the final penalty kick of the afternoon, his eyes briefly met those of the opposing goalie.
"He said 'good luck,' and, then I said, 'good luck,'" said Manosalvas, whose Diplomats were competing in Sunday's semifinals of the Columbia Memorial Day Invitational Tournament. "I had to take responsiblity and it put tremendous pressure on me."
Manosalvas played, over and over, in his mind, the words of his own goalie teammate, Pat Murphy, who "just cheered me up by saying, 'you can do it, Ricardo.' I just felt so relieved."
Relieved or not, Manosalvas -- his fists briefly balled up tightly on either side of him --still was, nevertheless, a bundle of nerves.
"I didn't even look at the spot where I was going to kick it," said Manosalvas. "I just closed my eyes at the very last second when I ran, and I kicked it. I just knew he was going to his left."
Manosalvas heard his foot make contact with the ball, followed by a "Boo from the other team, because I guess they were mad," he said.
Manosalvas then opened his eyes, "and then I looked, and I just saw the ball go in," he said. "I was just so happy out of my mind."
Manosalvas then turned around and ran toward his already celebrating teammates, under whose masses of bodies the tinest Diplomats' player disappeared.
"I thought that our team did an overall really good job playing," said Murphy, who deflected two of the penalty kicks by the Frederick County team, which missed two others outright.
"I just stayed composed. I didn't really freak out like a lot of goalies do," Murphy said. "I just watched their eyes and watched their hips, and then just dove the way that I felt that they were going."
In victory, the Diplomats earned a berth in Monday's Under-13 championship game opposite the Calverton Revolution.
The Revolution received two second half goals from Sergio Navarrete on the way to a 3-0 shutout of The Soccer Association of Columbia's Premiere squad.
In victory, the Revolution ousted a program which had won titles in the previous two Columbia Invitational Tournaments.
"People didn't expect this since they had beaten us before by 2-0, and, 1-0, I think. To come out with a 3-0 victory is pretty good," said Navarrete, whose Revolution battled to a scoreless tie opposite the Diplomats in an earlier tournament.
The Revolution and the Frederick squad had tied 1-1 during an earlier game of the Columbia Invitatinal.
"I feel excellent," said Navarrette. "I feel like I could take on the whole world right now."
